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The Cruise of the Condor/plot
Chapter I: Biggles Gets a Shock Chapter II: Dickpa Explains Chapter III: Running the Gauntlet Biggles climbs out through Dickpa's kitchen window and successfully breaks through the cordon set up by Blattner and his gang. Meanwhile Algy has to hold the fort for the next eight days until Biggles returns. Chapter IV:The Getaway Biggles arrives at Dickpa's house in a hired light aircraft and fetches Algy and Dickpa. Blattner's gang closes in on them but the aircraft gets away in time. Chapter V: Trouble Biggles, Algy and Dickpa sail from Liverpool to New York. There they meet Smyth, who had arrived earlier with their amphibian aircraft which had been shipped across the Atlantic in a crate. The aircraft is assembled and christened "The Condor" and they make their way south to Brazil where they arrive at Manaus. Unfortunately, Blattner has friends there and Dickpa is arrested by the corrupt mayor, Joseph da Silva. But Dickpa also has friends--his agent Carter warns Biggles and Algy who manage to leave Manaus in time. Carter advises them to hide in a creek out of town. There, he brings the much needed fuel for the "Condor" and its tanks are topped up. He also brings unwelcome news. Blattner and Steinberg had been spotted in New Orleans and were probably heading for Manaus. Also, Biggles must rescue Dickpa that night if he wants any chance of succeeding. Biggles and Smyth return with Carter to rescue Dickpa. As a harbinger of Algy's future lot in life, he is left to guard the aircraft. Chapter VI: Escape At the jail at Manuas, Smyth creates a diversion by crashing a car into a gate and using petrol to start a fire. When the policemen evacuate the jail, Biggles sneaks in to release Dickpa but he has to knock out a policeman in the process. The three then steal a canoe and paddle down to Algy at the "Condor". Chapter VII: The Falls They depart at daybreak but the engine gives trouble and Biggles puts down on a river. Smyth is fixing the engine when they realise that they are headed for a waterfall! Smyth's desparate repairs are completed only just in time and Biggles gets the aircraft airborne as it is about to plummet down the falls. They get to a lake near Dickpa's cave without further incident. While the others are repairing the engine and setting up camp, Biggles decides to explore the shoreline of the lake to look for hazards. Chapter VIII: Indians Biggles comes across an abandoned canoe and a shack with the dead body of a rubber collector in it. Returning to the "Condor", he finds the rest of the party missing. An arrow hints that they have been captured by Indians. Biggles follows a trail of rice (from a torn sack) and finds Dickpa, Algy and Smyth tied up in an Indian village. Biggles drives off the Indians by firing flares from a Verey pistol. The party then returns to the "Condor" to spend the night. Chapter IX: A Night of Horror Next morning, the party sets off for Dickpa's cave but find that it covered by a landslide from an earthquake. They work to clear the entrance but then hear aircraft engines! After digging for most of the day, they return to the "Condor" to spend the night but find that the aircraft is gone! They conclude that the engines they heard must have been Silas Blattner and his gang. They must have seen the "Condor" and landed to tow it away. Stranded? Biggles remembers the canoe he saw. They make a "balsa" for Biggles to cross the river and he reaches the rubber collector's shack. He has a fright when there seems to be someone else in the shack but is actually relieved to find that it is a panther! Using the canoe, the party paddles down to where Blattner's camp. Dickpa and Smyth go ashore to create a diversion while Algy and Biggles steal the "Condor". The enemy is alerted and opens fire with a machine gun but the "Condor" gets away. Their troubles are not over. There is a large snake on the real fuselage. Biggles frantically attempts to land before he is grabbed by the snake, while Algy desparately climbs onto the fuselage to do battle with it. Algy is victorious and they put down on the water, only to find that their main tank has been holed by gunfire. They have very little fuel left but they manage to pick up Dickpa and Smyth before returning to their original mooring where they spend the rest of the eventful night. Chapter X: The Raid The next morning they hear Blattner's aircraft searching for them. Knowing that Blattner must have a store of fuel in his camp, Biggles devises a plan to raid it to top up his own tanks. They find the camp guarded by none other that Philippe Nunez who is soon subdued. The tanks are filled and the "Condor" is again on its way. Biggles decides to put down on the river again risks being spotted. So he parachutes down to a prairie near Dickpa's cave to clear a runway. Algy lands the Condor which they camouflage before heading back to the cave to continue excavations. Chapter XI: The Ants A brief interlude where they discover the "Condor" covered with a mass of large ants. They fear the ants will devour the aircraft fabric. Fortunately, another large mass of smaller ants of a different species soon approaches and attacks the first one, driving them off the "Condor". This section, not essential to the main plot, is omitted in the graphic novel adaptations. Chapter XII: Trapped Our explorer friends attempt to break a hole in the wall blocking the passage in Dickpa's cave but soon an earthquake causes a rockfall which seals them into the cave. Not able to get out, Biggles decides that the only way to is to go on. They succeed in breaking down a hole in the wall. Beyond it the cave passage seems to lead on and on, going upwards. Suddenly Biggles slips and falls into an abyss. Fortunately he is tied by a rope to the others who haul him up. They notice stars above them now but they can't see into the void that Biggles fell into. They decide to sleep and wait for dawn. Chapter XIII: Marooned Morning reveals that they are overlooking a vast volcanic crater. There is a path leading up. Biggles leads the way and the party soon surmounts the edge of the crater and emerge onto a plateau. On the plateau they find a log bridge which connects to some high ground beyond. Before crossing it, Biggles reasons that the Incas would not have built a perilous pathway up to the plateau only to go down again through Dickpa's cave. They must have had a reason to get up. Looking behind them they see a path leading from the log bridge to a large pyrimidal mass of rock and follow it. The path leads up the rock into a crater where they discover a ruined town dominated by a large temple-like building. Chapter XIV: Discovery Inside the temple they finally discover the Inca treasure. But from the vantage point of building it is possible to see down into the valley. The "Condor" can be seen but the camouflage is gone--it seemed monkeys have pulled it away and it is looking very consipicuous. Biggles decides that they must to go down and fetch the aircraft before Blattner spots it. They could land it on the plateau to load up the treasure later. But they each collect a few ornaments anyway. As they approach the log bridge, a series of tremors sends the logs crashing down. Biggles does a flying leap and just reaches the other side but the others are stranded. Chapter XV:A Perilous Passage Biggles must now make his way down the mountain on his own to fetch the "Condor". It is a perilous passage down a narrow staircase carved into the mountainside. There is heavy rain and he is attacked first by a King Condor and then by a large flight of vultures. To avoid them he has to take another leap, this time into a river which takes him through some rapids and down a waterfall. Biggles reaches the "Condor" and is surprised to find a man eating a can of food inside the cabin. He is Aaron Speakdetruf, a Trinidadian rubber collector who has escaped from his cruel employer and is on the run. He had been recaptured by Blattner's gang who plan to return him to Joseph da Silva, his employer. Aaron escaped again when he saw Biggles' aircraft. He tells Biggles he overheard Blattner's gang laughing that Biggles was wanted for murder. The policeman he struck at the Manaus jail was alive, but they made up his death in order to hang Biggles, Aaron says. Aarons helps Biggles position the "Condor" for take off. Biggles then gives Aaron a load of food and sends him on his way. Engrossed in this take off, Biggles doesn't see Blattner's gang rush out of the jungle and narrowly miss reaching his plane. After landing on the plateau, Algy tells Biggles what they saw: After Biggles got away, Blattner recaptures Aaron and shoots him in cold blood. The news about them being wanted for murder convinces Biggles that they cannot return to Brazil but must head for Bolivia. Chapter XVI: Combat Tactics The party makes towards the temple to collect the treasure but a volcanic eruption covers the area, sending boulders and dangerous sulfurous fumes onto the plateau. They are forced to abandon their plans and execute a hasty take off with the "Condor". They set course for Bolivia but Algy spots Blattner's flying boat diving down at them. It opens fire with a machine gun with the intent of shooting the "Condor" down. The "Condor" is unarmed but Biggles manoeuvres the aircraft above Blattner's and Algy throws a heavy can of oil onto its wing, tearing it and sending it crashing. Chapter XVII: Crashed The "Condor" heads towards Bolivia but they run out of fuel and crash into a mountainous valley but Biggles noted that they had been spotted by a Junkers airliner shortly before crashing and it might report them and send help. Chapter XVIII: Conclusion They spend the night in the valley. In the morning, Dickpa notices streaks of silver in a stone and they discover a rich vein of silver ore. Soon the Junkers returns and spots them. Rescuers reach them and take them to Cochabamba where they charter a flight to La Paz. They didn't manage to collect much of the treasure but what they had is quite valuable. Dickpa takes out a mining concession for the vein of silver and leaves it in the hands of an agent. The party then sails for England but Biggles muses that he has a feeling he will see South America again. Category:Plot summaries